China’s retail sales grew by over 10% to US$4 trillion in Q1-Q3 2017

In the first three quarters, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 26,317.8 billion yuan (US$3,974.24 billion) in China, a year-on-year rise of 10.4 percent, growing at the same speed as that of the same period last year.

Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 22,559.2 billion yuan, up by 10.1%, and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 3,758.6 billion yuan, up by 12.1%.

Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of catering industry was 2,842.7 billion yuan, up by 11.0 percent; and the retail sales of goods were 23,475.1 billion yuan, up by 10.3 percent.

In particular, the retail sales of units above the designated size reached 11,071.7 billion yuan, an increase of 8.5 percent. The sales of upgraded consumer goods witnessed a fast growth. Specifically, the sales of sports and recreational articles grew by 17.4 percent, cosmetics up by 12.1 percent and construction and decoration materials rose by 12.6 percent.

In September, the total retail sales of consumer goods rose by 10.3 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point higher than that in August, or up by 0.90 percent month-on-month.

In particular, the online retail sales of physical goods were 3,682.6 billion yuan, an increase of 29.1 percent, accounting for 14.0 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, or 2.3 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year, while the online retail sales of non-physical goods were 1,196.1 billion yuan, an increase of 52.8 percent.